Historical puukko blade with a new handle

 So, I had this blade lying around for ages. I have this from the last producing smithy in Solingen, and it was courtesy of Mr. Rudolph Broch, one of the best bladesmiths in Solingen city in his time. As is customary in Solingen, you get to know someone (and mean it) and he or she tells you to go to someone (who is informed) and then you get to know this person (and mean it) and so on, and this was the manner I was being introduced to Mr. Broch then. I would not have found the smithy in the first place, it is quite hidden, and Mr. Broch welcomed me when he learned that I was interested in learning some tricks of the trade and enthused when I said that I really loved those old styles of Solingen knives. So, some ten years ago, he not only welcomed me to his smithy and showed me some tricks, but also showed me around his garage, which was brim full of knife blades and blanks that either were discontinued in production since at least 50 years or were never produced at all. It was a knifemaker´s wet dream come true, and it was like wonderland. Amongst the blades I found there were trench knives from WW I and II, hunting knives that would have made Horace Kephart envious... and a whole dispatch of puukko blades. Mr. Broch did not quite know for which corporation they were made, for it was way back then, too, put assumed they were made either for Iisakki Järvenpaa or Puronvarsi. What I can safely say is that they are made from stainless steel, and they were all Rockwell-tested with nine cone imprints along the whole length of the blade, with groups of three. The imprints were marked with a pen. The hardness varies from 57-59 HRC according to the markings, and, from experience with testing blades I can say that this is most certainly true. The temper is even, and the tang was tempered through, so I gave the end of the tang a bit of an annealing. The blade has a characteristical diamond shape, which is common with the Finnish type of woodworking knife. I fitted a nickel silver bolster and a handle of reindeer antler and birchwood burr.

 The tang was peened over a flower buttcap I filed from bronze (still has some engraving work to be done to;-)...

To make for a more durable edge, I gave it a tiny secondary bevel. The blade is now razor-sharp, and will be a personal item... I´ll give it a classic simple sheath or maybe even something more fancy, we´ll see...

The Puukko has fascinated me as an everyday tool, but also as a cultural aspect, and I hope to be doing more on the mythology and history of this great style of knife.